Cloud Gazing
by MadSkye
Summary: I’m not good with summaries. The title is self explanatory. Shikamaru isn’t paying attention in class. Oneshot.


**Disclaimer- I don't own anything related to Naruto. Sadly.**

**This is my first Naruto fanfiction. I've had this idea for some time, but I never got around to writing it until now. Please read and review. Criticism is welcome.**

_'Anything written like thisis a thought.'_

Everything else is normal speaking.

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**Cloud Gazing**

"This is too troublesome. Why do we even have to come here?" Shikamaru questioned to no one in particular. He glanced over at his best friend, Chouji, who was currently munching happily on a potato chip. He shook his head and sighed.

Academy life was troublesome. Shikamaru propped his elbow up on the desk, dropping his chin onto his hand. He let his eyes wander carelessly around the room, looking at his fellow classmates. Kiba was in the back, sleeping away like usual. He didn't even bother to cover up the fact that he was sleeping either.

Shikamaru's gaze dropped down a few rows to see what the blonde was doing. He rolled his eyes. Naruto was dozing off as well, book propped up in front of his face. Like that wasn't obvious. He had might as well take Kiba's approach.

One by one, Shikamaru looked at the other students in the room. Each one was either sleeping, daydreaming, or paying attention to what Iruka-sensei was talking about. He tilted his head slightly and turned his gaze to the man standing at the front of the class room. Iruka-sensei was attempting to lecture the class and keep his temper at the same time. Shikamaru rolled his eyes once more, turning his gaze out the window next to him.

"Troublesome." He muttered under his breath. He stifled a yawn and looked up at the sky. He watched as a cloud drifted by. He blinked, narrowing his eyes as he looked closer at the cloud.

_'It looks like a tree.'_ His thoughts muttered. His eyes scanned the tree, roaming from the stark white trunk to the poof that formed the branches and leaves. He saw movement out of the corner of his eye and glanced over. Another cloud was coming into view. He waited for it to fully show itself.

_'That one looks like a cat.'_ The cat was crouching down, prepared to pounce on some unseen prey._ 'Good luck.'_ He thought blankly. The cat slowly closed in on the tree. _'An aerial of your prey would help you catch it,'_ He added thoughtfully. The cat cloud collided with the tree cloud. Shikamaru blinked and watched with lazy wonder as a piece of the tree came loose from its main form.

_'It would seem as though the cat failed in its attack plan. That falling branch would scare any prey away.'_

His eyes wandered to another cloud. This one was rounded on one side and nearly flat on the other.

_'It's a bowl,'_ Shikamaru thought bleakly. _'Most likely a bowl of ramen.'_ He sighed. _'Naruto's favorite food. Does the boy ever eat normal food?'_ He wondered momentarily.

With a shrug, he tore his eyes away from the bowl to search for another cloud. He watched as a group of smaller clouds slowly molded themselves together, forming another shape.

_'A pineapple,'_ The thought was blunt in his mind. He shook his head slightly. _'Of all things it was a pineapple. How troublesome.'_ The pineapple began to change once more. The leaves shifted, moving ever so slightly down the side of the pineapple. The pineapple, itself, was becoming rounder, something akin to a neck was starting to form.

_'...A duck.'_ Shikamaru's thoughts shifted tothe nearby lake. There was an occasional flock of ducks swimming there. A faint smirk tugged at his mouth as he thought about the time Chouji had attempted to catch one of the ducks that had been resting on the lake's shoreline. The duck hadn't been very happy about it either. It had rounded on Chouji and bit his nose.

Shikamaru sighed and glanced around the sky again. Another cloud came into view.

_'A fish...'_ Shikamaru rolled his eyes. _'Fishing is troublesome. Too much work to get something that is even more troublesome to prepare.'_ He closed one eye and continued to look at the fish. He waited as it began to change, slowly but surely. It expanded slightly, the head splitting in two and becoming rounded as well as the tail.

Shikamaru opened his eye and looked closely at the new shape. It had formed a butterfly. He blinked and a small grin twisted his lips. He continued to watch the butterfly, his mind wandering once again.

The day he and Chouji became friends came to mind. Kids from the village were playing their childhood game of ninja. Chouji had been kicked out of the play group by the other boys.

_'He saved that butterfly that day.'_ Shikamaru added to his thoughts. He recalled watching Chouji walk away, only to stop by a spider's web. Caught in the web was a butterfly, still alive. Chouji had helped thesmall creaturefly away.

Shikamaru rubbed absentmindedly at his side, ignoring the jabbing feeling. Another cloud was coming into view. He blinked, eyes widening when he realized what it made him think of.

_'Chouji's bag of chips.'_ He blinked again. He watched as a piece of the cloud broke off, forming an oval. He watched as the piece of cloud continued to drift further away from the bag of chips. _'There goes the chip.'_ He thought lazily. He felt another sharp jab in his side and the sound of a throat being cleared.

Shikamaru sat up and looked briefly around the room. Chouji was looking at him, elbow poised and ready to jab his side again. He realized whathad happenedand looked to the front of the room to see Iruka-sensei staring at him expectantly.

"Well, Shikamaru? Do you know the answer?" He asked, his voice a stressed calm. Shikamaru blinked once, his brow furrowing. He didn't know the answer. This was a troublesome situation.

"Clouds." He heard himself answer flatly. He watched as Iruka-sensei blinked, his face that of disbelief.

"Well, yes, that's correct, Shikamaru. Good job." Shikamaru blinked once more, his mind accepting what he just heard. He shrugged and looked back out the window.

He listened briefly as Iruka-sensei explained that they were having a quiz on what they just learned. He rolled his eyes as he heard those still awake moan their disapproval.

"How troublesome," He said before lying his head down for a nap. "It's all too troublesome."


End file.
